ESG Stewardship Associate

Chicago, IL

Join William Blair, the Premier Global Boutique.

William Blair has delivered trusted advice for nearly nine decades, and we continue to deepen our expertise and relationships across regions, asset classes, and markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

We are committed to our people and culture, values, clients, and local communities.

What sets us apart is that we are an independent partnership, with employees who have unique experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet clients’ evolving needs amid dynamic market conditions and varying industries.

We strive to attract the most qualified, passionate candidates who specialize in investment banking, investment management, private wealth management, and a variety of other business functions.

We work tirelessly to create an inclusive culture and take pride in fostering employees’ professional and personal growth. We empower our people to bring their best thinking each day so we can deliver the tailored, thoughtful work and problem-solving abilities that our clients expect.

Equally, we are proud of our long-term partnerships with the communities in which we live and work, a legacy we inherited from our founder.

We invite you to learn about how we are seeking excellence in everything we do and empowering our clients’ success with passion, creativity, and rigor. For more information, visit williamblair.com.

Job Description

William Blair Investment Management is committed to building enduring relationships with our clients. We work closely with private and public pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as financial advisors. We are 100% active-employee-owned with broad-based ownership. Our investment teams are solely focused on active management and employ disciplined, analytical research processes across a wide range of strategies, including U.S. equity, non-U.S. equity, emerging markets debt, and multi-asset. William Blair is based in Chicago with global resources providing expertise and solutions to meet our clients’ evolving needs.

Position Overview:

William Blair is seeking an ESG Stewardship Associate to support the firm’s proxy voting and investee company engagement efforts
The successful candidate will report to the director of sustainable investing and contribute to the firm’s global stewardship activities
The individual will support the firm’s proxy voting process and policies, working closely with the global and U.S. equity teams, as well as the proxy administration team

Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

Identify material voting considerations in support of fundamental equity analysts
Analyze key proxy proposals and advisor voting recommendations
Provide proxy voting advice and guidance on key proposals to fundamental analysts who have primary company research responsibilities
Support fundamental analysts, ESG analysts and portfolio managers as they engage with company management teams and board members on material issues, including proxy-related matters
Contribute to the development and implementation of the firm’s proxy voting policies and guidelines
Liaise with William Blair’s proxy administration team, proxy committee and external proxy advisor
Document voting activity in internal systems and provide relevant examples for inclusion in reporting materials
Identify emerging topics and best practices in proxy voting and corporate governance and communicate to colleagues

Qualifications:

Demonstrated experience in proxy voting, corporate governance and engagement
Experience with proxy advisors and processes is preferred
Familiarity with ESG-related shareholder proposals and proxy-related industry trends
Self-motivated individual with the ambition to succeed and work collaboratively in an environment that demands constant multi-tasking
Effective writing skills to support recording of voting and engagement activity on internal systems as well as identification of meaningful and relevant examples for inclusion in reporting materials
Undergraduate degree and minimum of 3-5 years of relevant work experience
Completion of ESG-focused credential or certificate program is preferred (e.g., SASB FSA, CFA ESG Certificate, PRI Academy, etc.)

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William Blair is an equal opportunity employer. It complies with all laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in employment practice because of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, marital status, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation, unfavorable discharge from the military service or on the basis of a physical or mental disability that is unrelated to the employee's ability to perform the duties of the job applied for. EOE m/f/d/v

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